St. Ann students get a 357-foot slice of Pi

Saint Ann School teacher Katie Wadley’s middle school math classes took their celebration of Pi Day to a new level Thursday when they made a 357-foot-long 1,320-link chain with each link representing a numeral in the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter.

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By John V. Cianijciani@ridgecrestca.com

Ridgecrest Daily Independent - Ridgecrest, CA

By John V. Cianijciani@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Mar. 16, 2013 at 12:00 PM

By John V. Cianijciani@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Mar. 16, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Saint Ann School teacher Katie Wadley’s middle school math classes took their celebration of Pi Day to a new level Thursday when they made a paper 357-foot-long 1,320-link chain with each link representing a numeral in the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter.

The students joined students around the world in celebrating the day.

“We got to 1,320 digits after the decimal point,” Wadley said. “We made a link for each number.”

She said her students came up the idea of making the chain.

“We looked it up online, and we printed out the numbers,” she said.

Students also shared their thoughts on the chain.

“It was extremely fun,” said Kyle Rogers. “I got to write down the numbers on the chain.”

Micah Pearson said she and fellow students Gisela Ramos and Cassandra Thayer worked on the first 10 numbers.

“It was amazing just by the fact that we got this far,” Katherine Heier said.

“It goes on forever,” said student Josh McCartney.

Wadley said this is something they talked about in class.

“We calculate circumference, and we calculate area,” she said. “I think it’s important that they understand that this is a very special ratio they’re dealing with. The fact that it goes on forever and there’s no pattern, no rhyme or reason makes it exciting. It gets them excited about what they’re learning.”